Jail inmate celebrates graduation day

More than 25 years after dropping out of high school, 43-year-old Anthony Poteet earned his GED diploma during a ceremony at the jail Tuesday morning.

Donning a black cap-and-gown over his jailhouse jumpsuit while Pomp and Circumstance played from a boom box, he proudly walked down the aisle with his tassel still un-turned. He took his seat among a crowd of leaders from the Gaston County Sheriff’s Office and Gaston College, many of whom spoke about his accomplishment at the ceremony.

“The world’s in front of you, and we’re proud of you at the Sheriff’s Office,” said Gaston County Sheriff Alan Cloninger. “I hope you never come back.”

The big moment came when Gaston College’s Chief GED Examiner Debra Hissom presented Poteet with his diploma. Upon returning to his seat, a humble Poteet took a moment to take it all in as he observed his diploma, which was encased in a black leather-bound display.

“It was a lot of hard work, considering the environment,” he said. “Everything came together.”

At any given time throughout the year, about a dozen men and a dozen women take GED prep classes in everything from math to science to social studies to computer skills. They use laptops and a SmartBoard to learn during two, three-hour sessions each week.

Inmates must apply for the highly-selective program, which has strict rules regarding who can become involved, such as nonviolent offenders who have demonstrated good behavior, among other factors.

Poteet began studying for his GED about a year ago.

With guidance from Rhonda Rowe, who instructs the men’s class, Poteet first earned a gold-level score on his career readiness certificate in February, which denotes how prepared a student is for career and college-level work. He later took and passed the GED exam in March. He was the program’s first graduate in the past two years.

Rowe says Poteet was a model student who often went out of his way to help and collaborate with classmates.

“Thank you Anthony for all that you’ve done, I’m so proud of you,” said Rowe, a retired math teacher from Hunter Huss and North Gaston high schools.

Rowe says she was at first nervous about stepping into the jail environment. But she says it quickly began to feel comfortable like any other class she’s taught over the years at Gaston College and in the public schools.

Poteet was convicted in January of misdemeanor driving while impaired, a crime which occurred in December 2013. He began serving his sentence Jan. 11 in Gaston County Jail and is scheduled for release in late April.

It was his second conviction for driving while impaired. He was previously convicted in January 2013 for an incident which occurred in April 2011. He was sentenced to probation.

“It’s my hope that when you’re released that you will see a different side of yourself, because you did see something different in yourself. You saw that you can do it,” said Cloninger. “You saw that there are people in this world that really care about you.”

Poteet dropped out of Bessemer City High School in his junior year. Before his most recent conviction, he worked as an electrician.

At the ceremony, he thanked those who helped him along the way and spoke about the necessity of receiving a good education.

“I encourage any and all to get their education, no matter what the circumstances may be,” he said, before turning his tassel as an official graduate.

The GED program at the Gaston County Jail is administered through a partnership between the Gaston County Sheriff’s Office and Gaston College. About 10 years ago, the state stopped funding the program at local jails, though it continued funding GED programs at state prisons.

So Cloninger became the first sheriff in the state to re-institute the program at a local jail. He and the Gaston County Sheriff’s Office collaborated with Gaston College to restart the program at the Gaston County Jail for both men, who have classes in the Sheriff’s Office building, and women, who have class at the jail annex next door.

The Sheriff’s Office reimburses Gaston College for all expenses related to the program, most of which comes through a grant.

In the past five years, the program has graduated 14 women and 48 men with their GED. Many more have taken the classes, but most are not incarcerated at the jail long enough to take the exam. Some of those inmates have gone on to complete their GED at Gaston College or through another program upon their release.

Thirty-six inmates graduated in 2013 alone because the jail allowed most inmates to take the old GED test before the new test was rolled out, regardless of whether they were enrolled in the classes the jail offered.

Fewer inmates have graduated recently due to the rollout of a more rigorous GED test, which has been administered since 2014. The test is computer-based, rather than the traditional pencil and paper version, and is considered a tougher test overall.

With a GED under his belt, Poteet hopes to re-spark his career as an electrician. As for what he’s looking forward to most as his days in jail wind down?

“Walking out the door,” he said.

You can reach Eric Wildstein at 704-869-1828 or Twitter.com/TheGazetteEric.